How to: repaint a damaged body panel

[BigTyla]

A few months ago my Honda Fit was hit in a parking garage (while parked...LOL) by an immigrant with no car insurance. The damage she did to my car was just barely over my deductible, and my insurance company could not guarantee they could get all of the money back since she was rather poor and technically not legally obligated to pay since the wreck occurred on private property. As a result, I decided to repair the damage myself.

I've heard some good things about the Duplicolor touch-up spray cans so I decided it was worth the $8.00 investment to give it a shot. So with 400-grit sandpaper in hand, I started sanding down the damage.

Here is a picture of the damage:


Here is where the brunt of the damage was done. In the second picture you can clearly see the paint rippled around the edges.





The scratches on the left are not very deep and can be easily sanded out. If that were the only damage, a repaint wouldn't even be required. That would just be wetsanded and then polished since this is a single-stage paint. The rest of the damage needs to be leveled out and feathered into the undamaged paint. A rule of thumb here is to get rid of the jagged edges. Your repair spots should be rounded out and the surface where the damage ends and the undamaged paint begins should be completely smooth. If you feel even the slightest ripple, keep sanding! Prep is 99% of a good paint job. You can see the result of a good sanding job in the next photo.



And here is a picture of all of the spots repaired.



It should be noted that this entire sanding process took me about 1.5 hours. That's how much time you'll need to dedicate to damage like this if you want your repair to look presentable. Following posts will show how to apply the spray paint and, if necessary, blend the new paint with the old paint.

[BigTyla]

When your surface is fully sanded, you can mask off the area you need to paint. Once you get your area masked off, you need to clean the area with rubbing alcohol to prep the surface for paint. Use painter's tape and some newspaper to cover surrounding areas to keep overspray from getting on areas you don't want it to be. Wait 30 minutes after applying the rubbing alcohol before painting.





When applying the paint, you have to make VERY light passes. If you apply too heavy of a coat at once, the paint WILL run. I made very light passes and STILL got runs in the paint. That's just what you have to live with when spraying from a can. You will need to make at least three passes for this to work properly. If your damage is heavy enough, such as in my case, you will have to make up to ten passes. I made eight before I finally got full coverage.

Here's the result of one light coat.



Here's the result of eight coats. This provides full coverage.



Notice the slight runs in the paint. Those will have to be wetsanded out.

[BigTyla]

For the next step, you're going to need the following materials:

-Turtle Wax liquid rubbing compound
-1000, 1500, and 2000 grit automotive sandpaper
-Tape
-Buffer
-Spray bottle with water



After you let the paint dry for a couple of days you can remove the tape. This is what your repair area should look like.



Notice the sharp lines where the new paint was applied. Those lines are raised and need to be sanded down and blended with the paint around it. Tape up your area again, this time placing the tape a couple of inches from the edges of your new paint.



Spray the area liberally with water from your spray bottle. Take your 2000 grit sandpaper and begin working it around the edges to sand it down, drying intermittently and applying more water. Apply as little pressure as possible. You want to sand a little past the edges to try to blend the old and new paint. If you applied many coats like I did, you might find that the more aggressive sandpaper is better for your application. In my case, I ended up using 1000 grit on the edges and then moved to 1500 grit. After taking care of the edges, sand the entire area with 2000 grit. When you are done, the area should look like this:



Notice the dark portions along the bottom where too much paint was sanded. This is okay! You'll cover this again when you apply more paint. More paint?!?! Yes, more paint. Remove the tape from the body and apply new tape about four inches from the edges of the new paint and mask the surrounding area with paper to avoid overspray. This will allow us to apply the paint outside the hard edges to more effectively blend in the new paint with the old paint. Lay a light coat of paint within the area. When you get outside the sharp edges we sanded down, feather the spray paint out slightly. Do not go all the way to the inner tape edge. Wait 10 minutes, then come back and repeat the process. Wait 30 minutes and remove the tape and masking material. Let it dry overnight.

When you come back to the repair the next day, you should see some improvement over the first time you laid paint. In particular, the hard edges where old paint meets new paint should be much harder to see, but if you look hard enough you will likely still be able to notice them. This time, break out your 2000 grit sandpaper, spray the area with water, and sand the whole area again. After sanding, the area should look like this:



If you look VERY closely, you might be able to pick out some very slight lines where the paint doesn't blend perfectly. This next step ought to take care of that. Take out your buffer and rubbing compound. Apply a quarter-sized amount of rubbing compound to your buffer pad and rub it around the repair area. Turn the buffer speed up to 1000 rpm and run the buffer across the repair area in an "S" motion, taking care not to spend too much time in one area. Let the buffer do the work! If you apply too much pressure, you'll burn right through the paint. The entire buffing process should take 45 to 60 seconds. Afterward, wipe the area with a clean towel. If your original paint was a base coat/clear coat finish, you'll need to apply some Duplicolor clear coat over the new paint the same way you applied the paint. Do two light coats. My car's original finish was a single stage paint, so I did not apply a clear coat. Now take your favorite wax and use it on the entire repair area. I used Meguiar's Cleaner Wax paste. And here's your finished product:



I'm pretty happy with my results. From afar the car looks like nothing happened at all, but if I look close enough I can still see very slight lines where the old and new paint were still not completely blended. You can see it in the picture above if you look hard enough. More patience with sanding and buffing ought to take care of this. Overall, it looks great for an investment of $10 and about four to five hours of my time.

[stealthify]

In for the final results. Looking good so far man!

[Greg E]

Also in for results!!

[Boomer3000]

Subded

[IronmanTT]

with all them above...

[wingnut]

A few months ago my Honda Fit was hit in a parking garage...my insurance company could not guarantee they could get all of the money back since she was rather poor and technically not legally obligated to pay since the wreck occurred on private property.

...am i the only one scratching my head over this one?!?

[FeaRpb]

I am here!

[OhioSpyderman]

Looking Good Tyla

Also in for results...

Bob.